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Louisville hangs on after zany end to electric Sun Bowl vs. Washington
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Louisville had reason to celebrate on New Year’s Eve. Barely.
The Cardinals allowed a touchdown to Washington with 9 seconds left in Tuesday’s Sun Bowl in El Paso, which pulled the Huskies within 35-34. Then, with it being a bowl game and all, Washington threw caution to the wind and went for 2 points and the victory. But Demond Williams Jr.’s pass to the back-right corner of the end zone was knocked away by linebacker Antonio Watts, and Louisville escaped with the 35-34 victory that gave it a 9-4 record to end 2024.
Before Watts saved the game for Louisville, Washington put a scare into the Cardinals with that late touchdown, as Williams found Giles Jackson for a 1-yard touchdown pass that set up the do-or-die 2-point try. It was the 4th touchdown of the day for Jackson, who finished with 11 catches for 161 yards.
But Washington, which finished a disappointing season at 6-7, wasn’t quite done yet even after the failed 2-point conversion. The Huskies tried an onside kick, which bounced around for what seemed like a million times, especially to frantic Cardinals fans who were seeing a Sun Bowl victory go up in smokes before their very eyes.
The ball bounced out of bounds though, and Louisville had its bowl victory secured at last.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
